


Sans holds a kid.

by cyclops



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 18:38:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5059717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyclops/pseuds/cyclops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sans holds Frisk's life in his hands. As the boy suffers from serious heat exhaustion from traipsing around Hotland, Sans must give a bit of effort in order to help save his life. Sans does so with a smile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hotland was _hot_.

Well, at least Sans expected that was true; the name kind of gave it away. He couldn’t exactly feel the effects of temperature, being a skeleton and all. 

Not to say he wasn’t alive or anything, he was very alive, however loathe he was to admit it sometimes. The existence of multiple timelines didn’t really serve to put a skip in his step. Anomalous, sure, but it’s not like he remembered anything other than a vague feeling and a shoddy recollection of the past couple of days. He stopped trying to understand it, because really the only thing he could “understand” was his own helplessness in the matter. Something came up pretty recently though. Something that maybe didn’t feel extremely “final” in the sense that all of these different timelines would join up, become linear and easy to follow. He was pretty sure, until the end of time, he would never get the satisfaction of that feeling.

It was, however, the little human kid that filled him with hope. Frisk.

It was a feeling he regarded highly above all others. The kid he had found toddling around in the forest had a certain charisma to him; a charm. He was on all accounts completely innocent. He seemed to melt away any disbelief with the giggling he would give to the skeleton’s puns. Sans had liked him so much, in fact, that he joined him as he traipsed through his brother’s well-planned japes and puzzles. He was there with him as he shuffled through the town of Snowdin, even buying him a jacket to beat out the cold with. He was there with him as he fought his own brother. He remembered how flustered he got when the little boy called him “cute” in his tiny voice. After that, however–

Sans had been lounging at one of his many posts for a while, only just now hearing the commotion coming from a little bit to the left. A clamor? He lazily let one of his eyes open to catch the source of it. It seemed like a… procession of some sort? A few of Hotland’s natives seemed to be agitated at something. Sans took a second to unrecline himself and sit up straight. He gripped the bottle of ketchup in his pocket tightly, looking to relieve some of the tension that suddenly appeared. Wait, tension? Apprehension? Sans was unfamiliar with these feelings. Perhaps vaguely acquainted, but not here. Not now. But he was.

As the procession drew nearer, he noticed that one of the tsundereplanes was carrying something on top of it. Something with stripes?– He bolted to his feet. He heard some of the residents of Hotland sniffling. Something was up. It was a hard ball of a feeling, deep within Sans’ soul. It grew exponentially bigger as the thing came into view.

Frisk.

He leaped over to the group, not walked, not sauntered, not even ran: leaped. The procession came to a halt before him, and he began to perspire. He asked direct questions, no bullshit. None of the residents had any idea had happened to the child. One second he was sauntering through Hotland, the next, he was on the ground in a heap of himself. The plane deposited the heap of Frisk into Sans’ awaiting arms. He wasn’t heavy by any means, he was only four after all. The kid was panting in ragged, pained breaths; sweat was pouring from his pale body, eyes closed from strain. Hair was both matted with sweat and frizzy in places. His whole body felt weak and tired.

Of course, Sans had no idea what to do. He was freaking out as much as a lazy skeleton could, though his unwavering grin betrayed it. The sight of Frisk in the state not only scared him, but it also deeply saddened him. How could he have let this happen? Suddenly engrossed in thought, a existentially constant thought arose. The old lady beyond the door made him promise, promise to keep the human boy safe from harm. Sans wasn’t good with caring, or really even any kind of commitment. It was safe to say that he probably wasn’t the best skeleton to make heartfelt promises with. The child didn’t deserve what was happening.

Sans began to tremble.


	2. Chapter 2

It appeared that powerlessness seemed to seek him out in any form.

The group of monsters began to dissipate having delivered the boy to the only capable monster in Hotland. They each went their separate ways, leaving the him in the arms of the skeleton. Both of them shaking and unable to stop. The only difference being that Sans was rattling, whereas Frisk was suffering. 

“what happened t'ya kid?” He mumbled apologetically. He waited until all the monsters were gone before reaching to his left, opening a door that wasn’t there before. Sans had his shortcuts, and they were plentiful.

In his negligible knowledge of human anatomy, he felt the need to consult a professional. He didn’t know any doctors, since he really never got sick. If he did catch anything, he kind of just did what he usually did anyways until it was gone; sleep, nap, or just be lazy in general. He realized as he walked that Frisk didn’t have that luxury. After a bit of a delay, the shortcut brought him to the only person that he thought might help. He stepped out of another door, closing it quietly behind him. Mechanical whirs erupted in troves around him, either coming from machines or from the constantly-running escalators installed in the lab. The rows of fluorescent lights bearing down on him illumined every little crevice and bump in the features of his skull. It made him look exceptionally serious and “bony-faced.” It didn’t help that the walls and floors were all blandly light-colored as well, the subtle austerity of the place unbroken until he found her. The only professional that he knew personally. She was wrapped in some blankets, watching her computer screen with a sort of spaced delight. 

He looked back down at Frisk for a moment. Breaths were becoming shallower.

“hey!” It came out like a choked yell. The forcefulness in his voice was jarring to even him. He thought to himself how odd it was to hear his voice any louder than a regular speaking voice, let alone a yell. These thoughts were quickly replaced by more uncertainty. At least  _that_  wasn’t odd to him.

Alphys, taking a second to stop giggling like a quiet maniac at whatever she was watching, turned to face him with a bit of nervous perspiration beginning to form. Peculiar. It wasn’t often that Sans sought her out. Or really talked to her. Or acknowledged her really.

“O-oh, h–” Alphys started, then glanced at the heap she had called on her cell phone perhaps half an hour ago, “W-what’s going on? F-Frisk?” Letting the blankets cascade to the floor around her she pressed a button on her keyboard. With a look of both nervousness and concern on her face, she shuffled over to the two.

Sans stood still, looking down at his charge. His thoughts raced with each other. One took the lead for a second:

_Promise me._

“wasn’t sure where else to go,” His socket emanated blue from within faintly, “the kid’s gettin’ worse. can you help?”

“W-wuh?” She stammered, “What h- _happened_?”

Sans shrugged with a certain almost-mechanical stiffness, “beats me. some monsters brought him t’me. said he fell.” 

Alphys peered at Frisk, clearly overwrought. He had become more pale since Sans received him, and took in air more rapidly. His sweating didn’t stop, in fact, it poured out of him like he was some sort of human water balloon. It wasn’t a healthy sight. His face was scrunched up with a look of what could have been misconstrued as determination. He had begun kicking his legs slowly and fidgeting a bit more, but Sans held on. The doctor, although no medical doctor, had an almost certain diagnosis. 

Textbook heat exhaustion. She felt a painful twinge of sympathy. The child seemed to really like her when he visited, and seemed interested when she made her calls to him. She didn’t even feel nervous after the first three or so. She had an idea.

“S-Sans, h-he’s… he’s, um… h-he’s, well…” She stuttered and squeaked, putting her hand on his chest, “He’s t-too hot here. You n-need to bring him, uhhh, somewhere m-much, much cooler th-than here… How about…”

“yeah?” Sans just kept looking at the boy, listening to the doctor. Alphys pondered this for a moment. The fact of her being deep in thought betrayed by her shaking a bit from nervousness. The skeleton never came to her for anything, let alone  _advice._ Then, it came to her: somewhere not too hot, yet not too cold.

“Waterfall.” Understandably a lot cooler than Hotland.  Breaking her gaze with Sans she took her hand off of him. Trying to think of practical things one would do faced with a grave situation such as this she continued, albeit with a certain unsureness, “Um, you basically just need to, um, give him some water. Lie h-him down.” She sweat a little more, looking down a bit, “I-if you can… T-take some of his, uh, clothes off.” Her hands then found each other, wrapping themselves up in a tight knot. 

They stood in an awkward silence for probably a minute, but it seemed to drag on. Maybe she should have done more?

Sans’ voice eventually found her, “thanks.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look at his face, or lack thereof. She turned away, “Uh, yeah. N-no problem?” She said to no one at all. And she knew she was talking to no one at all.

Because Sans was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of the rushing waterfall echoed throughout the cavern.

Everything was lit up brilliantly by phosphorescent flora, mushrooms, little patches of grass, and even steadily blinking fireflies lazily drifted from here to there. As fireflies are wont to do anyways. The shiny minerals in the ceiling of the place glittered from all of the lights. A cool, wet mist covered the damp room; spray from the falls, sure, but it wouldn’t have surprised Sans to find out that some magic had found its way into the water. It was the nature of the place. Magic seemed to find its way into everything in the underground. 

“alright kiddo, last stop.” The waterfall caverns always served to calm the tension, and Sans could immediately feel its effects. A bit damp from the mild mist, he gently sat Frisk on the edge of one of the rivers created from the falls, and knelt down next to him. He felt his bones creak a bit as he did so. He began by rolling the child’s sweater up and over his head and arms, tossing it haphazardly to the side. Finally, his sweaty, soiled body was free of the heat of that thing. Still supporting him with an arm, Sans shifted a bit lower and carefully took off his boots. After adding them to the growing pile, he untied the winter jacket around his waist– Sans paused at this. Not for too long, but for a second he felt that familiar faint pang of emotion. It might have been nostalgia, or maybe the jacket just served to further compromise and complicate his current state. He held it to his chest.

_His eyes lit up when Sans handed him the jacket. At first the kid seemed to be in awe, with his mouth being a tiny bit agape. As quickly as that had come, though, it was gone. It was replaced by compelling childlike glee, and the skeleton could feel it. A tiny smile plastered Frisk’s face, more genuine than what Sans thought was possible. It was like his face was made for smiling. He quickly unzipped it, fitting one arm into the sleeve, then began what looked like a little dance that he did in a circle, trying to grasp the other part of the coat to put his arm in the remaining sleeve. Sans chuckled, grabbing the kid to hold him still while he carefully put the arm in the other sleeve. Frisk turned to face him, face unmarked by anything other than pure joy. He giggled too. The coat, unfortunately, was a little bit big on him, as his fingers barely could be seen coming out of the sleeve. Sans took to zipping the child’s coat for him when he heard something that made him halt. It was the first thing Frisk had said to him since he met him in the woods earlier. It made him shiver a bit, but not in fear. Actually quite the opposite._

_“T'anks!”_

Fortunately, Frisk looked noticeably better. The sweating had stopped all together. The breathing was less labored. Sans folded up the heavy jacket so that the plush inside was faced outwards, getting out from under the child and placing his head gently onto it. He gazed down at him after this was done, easily guiding his thoughts to a more positive mentality with every rise and fall of the tiny chest. The skeleton rattled out a lengthy rattle.

“aw jeez, buddy.” He rubbed his face with a bony hand, ushering in a more composed Sans, “you’re pretty lucky.” The kid would be fine.

Gripping his patella, he pushed himself off the ground. Keeping his eye on the kid for just a second longer,  he sauntered over to the rushing water of the river. It was sparkling and clear, as well as moving. It would be fine, surely. Sans dipped down, and with a bit of magic, conjured a rather small cup in his hand. He drifted it across the water before making his way back over to Frisk. He seemed comfortable.

Sans lifted the little boy’s head off of his makeshift pillow until he was sat in an upright position. Tilting his head back ever so slightly, gravity did the rest of the work until the cup was empty of liquid. Then, he slowly sat him back down to let him rest.

Sans, weary from the exertion, sat next to him. With a tired rattle, the stout skeleton pulled out  his phone.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was originally supposed to be a rather short drabble from my Tumblr blog, but honestly I still have plans to continue it! So of course as always, thank you guys sooo much for reading. Each hit means a lot to me and knowing someone took some time to read something I wrote feels great! If you liked this at all, consider following my writing blog on Tumblr, where I regularly update with worldbuilding, character breakdowns, etc.
> 
> cyclops--writes.tumblr.com


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